Let us avoid the curse of tribalism - by Pius Dunaiski
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Namibia stands at a turning point in history that is defining for our future. Two decades of independence mark an important milestone, as some of our own political leaders and pundits have pointed out in recent public stock-taking debates.
And we will do well to intensify our soul-searching and stand back to reflect on some of our bigger challenges, particularly on the issue of tribalism.
We should not lose sight that the apogee of all our efforts in Namibia, our sacred national encompassing project, is to build a strong and cohesive nation, which would be able to weather all sorts of storms - , tribalism being the 'Hurricane Katrina' of Africa.
Many Namibians already feel the pull of tribalism and in private and public utterances have expressed their concern.
Their trepidation is mainly informed by recent political developments in the country against the background of an ugly and extended history of ethnic separatist violence and concomitant destruction in Africa and elsewhere. There is little doubt that tribalism is discomfiting, both politically and morally.
Afro-pessimists abound whose doom prophesies point to overwhelming historical precedents - that political identities in Africa usually take on ethnic forms with the resultant destructive competing claims to political power.
This forms the bedrock of tribalism and its evil twin, corruption, since political power is used to unfairly and crudely monopolise access to a country's resources with impunity.
However, there are many in Namibia, including towering and influential figures in the SWAPO Party and Namibian Government, who strongly believe that Namibia must at all costs pursue the ideal of liberal democratic nationalism as a constitutional concept, which prescribes that Namibia belongs to all its people within its borders, irrespective of their ethnic, racial, gender or religious background.
I believe that this should be reassuring and serve as a source of hope to those who live in apprehension for our national unity.
The Clash of the Peoples' Paradigm
Much inspiration for this article is drawn from an essay of the renowned Professor of History at the Catholic University of America, Jerry Z. Muller, in the March/April edition of Foreign Affairs in 2008.
Of course, numerous discussions I had with many and varied people in Namibia and beyond over a long period equally informed me on the subject. The recent political spats in public had their impact too.
Under the title, Us and Them, The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism, Muller ascribes great influence and impact to ethno-nationalism in the political and social arena. He states that ethno-nationalism is a reality and powerful emotive power that shaped many borders in the world.
According to him, it is still today a potent force, which continues to inform political thinking and considerations, causing political spasms.
Muller strongly argues that ethno-nationalism has been largely the mother of Europe and played overriding roles in many other countries, including the United States of America. Both world wars, in 1918 and 1939, and many other violent spasms for some centuries now could be understood and appreciated through the lens of ethno-nationalism.
Applying his ethnic paradigm to Africa and other regions of the developing world, Professor Muller concludes that the process of decolonisation was mostly accompanied by "ethnic disaggregation through the exchange or expulsion of local minorities" and the break up and formation with new states, based on ethnic or religious cleavages.
He cites Algeria (French) and Uganda (Indians) in Africa as cases in point where forced emigration of minorities took place. Muller predicts that the legacy of colonial borders, which cuts across ethnic patterns of settlement, creating ethnic mixed communities within the same boundaries, is apt to be the source of years of conflict to come. His most damning statement in the essay is to say that it "is wishful thinking to suppose that these boundaries will be permanent".
In conclusion, Professor Muller arrived at the finding that ethno-nationalism (ethnic or strong cultural group consciousness) corresponds to "some enduring propensities of the human spirit that are heightened by the process of modern state creation - it is a crucial source of both solidarity and enmity, and in one form or another, it will remain for many generations to come. One can only profit from facing it directly."
United States of Africa
So, a dooming picture emerges from Muller's essay that places Africa on the spectrum of political maturity, far from the threshold of being a stable continent, at peace with itself with a thriving socio-economic development programme underway within a liberal democratic nationalist framework.
According to him, we could be facing ethnic upheavals and wars until we reach the current European model, where states are overwhelmingly based on homogenous ethnic groups, i.e. where political boundaries largely coincide with ethno-linguistic boundaries.
He is not alone in this negative mode. For years now, there are many who propagate that the "endless" tragedies and decades of war in African states demonstrate the need for border changes in Africa.
African states are seen as "artificial states" established along lines to fulfil European greed for commodities in the late 19th century.
These states are said to be not organic entities of similar peoples with similar cultures. They are regarded historically dissimilar and differences among peoples only guarantee continued crisis.
They say that, while rewriting borders is difficult and could result in great bloodshed in the short term, it will certainly be easier than living continually with states in constant war with themselves.
Such a notion, of course, is diametrically opposed to what our founding fathers in Africa have decided way back decades ago when the unity of Africa was topical.
After much debate, in the end, they rather leaned over to the idea that, while there is much truth in this - in that borders are easily taken up as the alleged cause of conflict - the late 19th century borders have been a reality for more than three generations and have created new political and social loyalties, identities and opportunities.
In this vein, I believe that we should reject this all-too-easy notion that political conflict is a given constant on the African continent.
In the wisdom of our current leaders, Africa should move at a requisite speed towards unity and full political and economic integration.
In many recent AU summits, our leaders agreed to accelerate the economic and political integration of the African continent, including the formation of a Union Government for Africa with the ultimate objective of creating the United States of Africa.
They agreed also, however, that the process should not be rushed and that certain fundamentals must be put in place to ensure a proper evolution that may take generations to accomplish.
The focus of my article, though, is the need to intensify the processes of the harmonisation of race and ethnic relations through an active and deliberate national programme of nation-building.
We should all, as Namibians, strive to make this dream of a United States of Africa a reality through genuine political harmony, especially at ethnic level. With some qualification, I agree with Professor Muller that we should face the enormous challenge of tribalism frontally and directly.
Yes, We Can
How can we do this? This is indeed a big challenge, given the history of Africa and beyond and the persuasive narrative of Professor Muller.
In my humble opinion, there is much we can do to complement and strengthen current efforts in the country. These commendable efforts were started by our Founding President and Father of the Namibian Nation, H.E. Dr. Sam Nujoma, with his introduction of the policy of national reconciliation and are now spearheaded by President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who amongst others, keeps on stressing the need to fight tribalism in all its forms.
This he has done without fail on many platforms during his tenure since 2005. Other political and church leaders in the country have warned strongly against tribalism.
We have thus eminent national guiding lights on the way to avoid the trap and curse of tribalism in Namibia and ensure a future for our children and ensuing generations.
"Yes, We Can" - to borrow from the campaigning slogan of President Barack Obama, whose election as president proved that the almost invincible enemy of racial parochialism can be overcome.
First, we should place stronger emphasis on the glorious history of anti-colonialism and teach our children where we come from; our fight against colonialism and apartheid developed a sense of national cohesion or superglue, by-product of the crucible of oppression.
Combating the formidable "enemy" or the ideology of white supremacy and occupation forced the Namibian people to realize they were in it together and no success was possible without organising the masses under the banner of the SWAPO Party.
Thus, the slogan of "One Namibia, One Nation" should be dusted off and utilized with renewed vigour.
Second, we should stop living in denial about tribalism in our midst (where the rubber hits the road) and the enormous potent destructive power inherent in it. We must be honest about this incipient danger.
Denial and treating this menace with gloves will only help to ensure we are caught unawares with our pants down. We have recently witnessed how stable democracies exploded in ethnic and xenophobic violence elsewhere in Africa. As much as we have developed independent state institutions to deal with skewed professional public behaviour (Ombudsman), and corruption (ACC), we must create a similar entity to root out tribalism.
Such an institution should identify the roots of tribalism, develop measures, launch awareness campaigns against it and work hard to attenuate ethnic identities or dangerous ethnic consciousness, which are harmful to our survival as proud Namibians.
Nation-building, which began before independence through our common fight against colonialism, should be pursued with greater focus.
Third, Namibia must continue to stress the need for strong and fair leadership at political, business and administrative level. Leadership is crucial in developing a truly non-racial, non-sexist, non-tribalist society and leaders who rely on tribal entrepreneurship to enhance their political fortunes should be eliminated and their political space must be cut back.
Fourth, the state should keep on reassuring ethnic minorities of their political place in the sun, steering away from perceptions that a majority is dictating the national agenda.
It is a known fact that minorities can easily feel politically inferior and marginalized and this may consequently limit their public participation. Some magic equity formula must be developed.
Fifth, the state must bolster its institutions to educate the general public of and instil in us the benefits of a peaceful liberal democratic constitutional order, where political and religious tolerance, the rule of law, transparency and good governance at all levels reign supreme and are kept in high regard as fundamental political values.
Finally, political leaders should deliberately move away from being ethnic entrepreneurs and organise people around issues and must not appeal on people's tribal sentiments.
For sure, this will not be easy, but it is realizable. It will require the pursuit of justice by a truly democratic national process that will result in the election of a strong and trusted political leadership.
Simultaneously, the creation of wealth and prosperity by sustained economic growth and resultant social development to counter poverty and political instability is important.
Though we may be in the HIV stage of tribalism, much can be done to prevent us from going to the AIDS stage.
Unity, justice and liberty (in national crest) were embraced by our founding fathers and mothers. They are the pillars on which Namibia is built. Let's make it a reality!
Pius Dunaiski
A Namibian citizen
Back to Top
And we will do well to intensify our soul-searching and stand back to reflect on some of our bigger challenges, particularly on the issue of tribalism.
We should not lose sight that the apogee of all our efforts in Namibia, our sacred national encompassing project, is to build a strong and cohesive nation, which would be able to weather all sorts of storms - , tribalism being the 'Hurricane Katrina' of Africa.
Many Namibians already feel the pull of tribalism and in private and public utterances have expressed their concern.
Their trepidation is mainly informed by recent political developments in the country against the background of an ugly and extended history of ethnic separatist violence and concomitant destruction in Africa and elsewhere. There is little doubt that tribalism is discomfiting, both politically and morally.
Afro-pessimists abound whose doom prophesies point to overwhelming historical precedents - that political identities in Africa usually take on ethnic forms with the resultant destructive competing claims to political power.
This forms the bedrock of tribalism and its evil twin, corruption, since political power is used to unfairly and crudely monopolise access to a country's resources with impunity.
However, there are many in Namibia, including towering and influential figures in the SWAPO Party and Namibian Government, who strongly believe that Namibia must at all costs pursue the ideal of liberal democratic nationalism as a constitutional concept, which prescribes that Namibia belongs to all its people within its borders, irrespective of their ethnic, racial, gender or religious background.
I believe that this should be reassuring and serve as a source of hope to those who live in apprehension for our national unity.
The Clash of the Peoples' Paradigm
Much inspiration for this article is drawn from an essay of the renowned Professor of History at the Catholic University of America, Jerry Z. Muller, in the March/April edition of Foreign Affairs in 2008.
Of course, numerous discussions I had with many and varied people in Namibia and beyond over a long period equally informed me on the subject. The recent political spats in public had their impact too.
Under the title, Us and Them, The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism, Muller ascribes great influence and impact to ethno-nationalism in the political and social arena. He states that ethno-nationalism is a reality and powerful emotive power that shaped many borders in the world.
According to him, it is still today a potent force, which continues to inform political thinking and considerations, causing political spasms.
Muller strongly argues that ethno-nationalism has been largely the mother of Europe and played overriding roles in many other countries, including the United States of America. Both world wars, in 1918 and 1939, and many other violent spasms for some centuries now could be understood and appreciated through the lens of ethno-nationalism.
Applying his ethnic paradigm to Africa and other regions of the developing world, Professor Muller concludes that the process of decolonisation was mostly accompanied by "ethnic disaggregation through the exchange or expulsion of local minorities" and the break up and formation with new states, based on ethnic or religious cleavages.
He cites Algeria (French) and Uganda (Indians) in Africa as cases in point where forced emigration of minorities took place. Muller predicts that the legacy of colonial borders, which cuts across ethnic patterns of settlement, creating ethnic mixed communities within the same boundaries, is apt to be the source of years of conflict to come. His most damning statement in the essay is to say that it "is wishful thinking to suppose that these boundaries will be permanent".
In conclusion, Professor Muller arrived at the finding that ethno-nationalism (ethnic or strong cultural group consciousness) corresponds to "some enduring propensities of the human spirit that are heightened by the process of modern state creation - it is a crucial source of both solidarity and enmity, and in one form or another, it will remain for many generations to come. One can only profit from facing it directly."
United States of Africa
So, a dooming picture emerges from Muller's essay that places Africa on the spectrum of political maturity, far from the threshold of being a stable continent, at peace with itself with a thriving socio-economic development programme underway within a liberal democratic nationalist framework.
According to him, we could be facing ethnic upheavals and wars until we reach the current European model, where states are overwhelmingly based on homogenous ethnic groups, i.e. where political boundaries largely coincide with ethno-linguistic boundaries.
He is not alone in this negative mode. For years now, there are many who propagate that the "endless" tragedies and decades of war in African states demonstrate the need for border changes in Africa.
African states are seen as "artificial states" established along lines to fulfil European greed for commodities in the late 19th century.
These states are said to be not organic entities of similar peoples with similar cultures. They are regarded historically dissimilar and differences among peoples only guarantee continued crisis.
They say that, while rewriting borders is difficult and could result in great bloodshed in the short term, it will certainly be easier than living continually with states in constant war with themselves.
Such a notion, of course, is diametrically opposed to what our founding fathers in Africa have decided way back decades ago when the unity of Africa was topical.
After much debate, in the end, they rather leaned over to the idea that, while there is much truth in this - in that borders are easily taken up as the alleged cause of conflict - the late 19th century borders have been a reality for more than three generations and have created new political and social loyalties, identities and opportunities.
In this vein, I believe that we should reject this all-too-easy notion that political conflict is a given constant on the African continent.
In the wisdom of our current leaders, Africa should move at a requisite speed towards unity and full political and economic integration.
In many recent AU summits, our leaders agreed to accelerate the economic and political integration of the African continent, including the formation of a Union Government for Africa with the ultimate objective of creating the United States of Africa.
They agreed also, however, that the process should not be rushed and that certain fundamentals must be put in place to ensure a proper evolution that may take generations to accomplish.
The focus of my article, though, is the need to intensify the processes of the harmonisation of race and ethnic relations through an active and deliberate national programme of nation-building.
We should all, as Namibians, strive to make this dream of a United States of Africa a reality through genuine political harmony, especially at ethnic level. With some qualification, I agree with Professor Muller that we should face the enormous challenge of tribalism frontally and directly.
Yes, We Can
How can we do this? This is indeed a big challenge, given the history of Africa and beyond and the persuasive narrative of Professor Muller.
In my humble opinion, there is much we can do to complement and strengthen current efforts in the country. These commendable efforts were started by our Founding President and Father of the Namibian Nation, H.E. Dr. Sam Nujoma, with his introduction of the policy of national reconciliation and are now spearheaded by President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who amongst others, keeps on stressing the need to fight tribalism in all its forms.
This he has done without fail on many platforms during his tenure since 2005. Other political and church leaders in the country have warned strongly against tribalism.
We have thus eminent national guiding lights on the way to avoid the trap and curse of tribalism in Namibia and ensure a future for our children and ensuing generations.
"Yes, We Can" - to borrow from the campaigning slogan of President Barack Obama, whose election as president proved that the almost invincible enemy of racial parochialism can be overcome.
First, we should place stronger emphasis on the glorious history of anti-colonialism and teach our children where we come from; our fight against colonialism and apartheid developed a sense of national cohesion or superglue, by-product of the crucible of oppression.
Combating the formidable "enemy" or the ideology of white supremacy and occupation forced the Namibian people to realize they were in it together and no success was possible without organising the masses under the banner of the SWAPO Party.
Thus, the slogan of "One Namibia, One Nation" should be dusted off and utilized with renewed vigour.
Second, we should stop living in denial about tribalism in our midst (where the rubber hits the road) and the enormous potent destructive power inherent in it. We must be honest about this incipient danger.
Denial and treating this menace with gloves will only help to ensure we are caught unawares with our pants down. We have recently witnessed how stable democracies exploded in ethnic and xenophobic violence elsewhere in Africa. As much as we have developed independent state institutions to deal with skewed professional public behaviour (Ombudsman), and corruption (ACC), we must create a similar entity to root out tribalism.
Such an institution should identify the roots of tribalism, develop measures, launch awareness campaigns against it and work hard to attenuate ethnic identities or dangerous ethnic consciousness, which are harmful to our survival as proud Namibians.
Nation-building, which began before independence through our common fight against colonialism, should be pursued with greater focus.
Third, Namibia must continue to stress the need for strong and fair leadership at political, business and administrative level. Leadership is crucial in developing a truly non-racial, non-sexist, non-tribalist society and leaders who rely on tribal entrepreneurship to enhance their political fortunes should be eliminated and their political space must be cut back.
Fourth, the state should keep on reassuring ethnic minorities of their political place in the sun, steering away from perceptions that a majority is dictating the national agenda.
It is a known fact that minorities can easily feel politically inferior and marginalized and this may consequently limit their public participation. Some magic equity formula must be developed.
Fifth, the state must bolster its institutions to educate the general public of and instil in us the benefits of a peaceful liberal democratic constitutional order, where political and religious tolerance, the rule of law, transparency and good governance at all levels reign supreme and are kept in high regard as fundamental political values.
Finally, political leaders should deliberately move away from being ethnic entrepreneurs and organise people around issues and must not appeal on people's tribal sentiments.
For sure, this will not be easy, but it is realizable. It will require the pursuit of justice by a truly democratic national process that will result in the election of a strong and trusted political leadership.
Simultaneously, the creation of wealth and prosperity by sustained economic growth and resultant social development to counter poverty and political instability is important.
Though we may be in the HIV stage of tribalism, much can be done to prevent us from going to the AIDS stage.
Unity, justice and liberty (in national crest) were embraced by our founding fathers and mothers. They are the pillars on which Namibia is built. Let's make it a reality!
Pius Dunaiski
A Namibian citizen
Back to Top
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